


tell me it's love (and that you're ready to fall)

by ashtxns



Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Baby Daddy AU, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-27
Updated: 2014-11-27
Packaged: 2018-02-27 05:27:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,716
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2680760
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ashtxns/pseuds/ashtxns
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“That’s. A baby.”</p><p>“Smart, Calum.”</p><p>They’re all standing in front of the sofa in Michael and Luke’s too small apartment, a baby staring up at them, pacifier in mouth, eyes big and green and, well, looking generally baby-like. Michael looks ready to throw up. Or have a mental breakdown. Maybe both.</p><p>or, the one where Michael is a father from one day to the next, Calum is a hopeless fool and Luke and Ashton are friends with benefits. Alternatively, a baby daddy au.</p>
            </blockquote>





	tell me it's love (and that you're ready to fall)

So, here’s the thing.

Michael likes his life. He likes his life quite a lot, thank you very much, even if he has three best friends who apparently never heard of personal space or privacy and even if he’s in love with one of said best friends. He’s cool with that. Totally. And it doesn’t matter to him, he’s perfectly content going to university and struggling to hand in all his essays on time, working as a bartender on weekends or just simply watching movies with Luke on a Friday night which ends in Calum and Ashton joining because they live next door and go annoy Michael and Luke when they have nothing to do. And if Michael stares at Calum a little (a lot) during the movie, well then, that’s not his fault. Stupid Calum with his stupid perfect plump pink lips, with his stupid mess of a hair, with his stupid dark eyes, who sometimes decides to wear his long sleeved sweater which makes him look stupidly cute and cuddly. Totally not Michael’s fault _._

So, yes, he’s perfectly content being a twenty-two year old struggling to balance his personal life and university work, trying to act like a responsible adult even if he couldn’t be bothered to pay the bills every month and being head over heels with one of his closest friends.

The thing is? He didn’t expect for a baby to _fucking turn up out of nowhere_ and leave his life in shambles because _he’s only twenty two, god damn, he doesn’t know how to take care of a baby and his mother is going to kill him oh my god-_

That’s when it all begins.

* * *

“Huh,” Luke says.

Michael can simply stare.

“Uhm,” Luke looks up and down the hallway to see if there’s anyone looking for a missing baby because _hello, random baby on their threshold, anyone?_

“There’s. There’s a letter,” Michael says, pointing to what looks like an envelope, next to the sleeping baby’s head.

“Reminds me of Harry Potter,” Luke replies and his eyes widen. “Check if it’s got a scar.”

Michael ignores his friends’ rambling and bends down, retrieving the envelope and trying not to wake the baby. It (He? She?) looks kinda cute, Michael muses. He was never good with babies but he had always found them adorable. Aside from the fact that they sometimes shit themselves. So not Michael’s forte.

“What does it say?” Luke asks, craning his neck to read over Michael’s shoulder but Michael is frozen, seemingly in shock, because what. the. fuck.

“Mike?” Luke is getting impatient now, trying to grasp the letter out of Michael’s hands but Michael crumbles it in his fist and swallows.

“It’s mine,” he says weakly.

* * *

“Huh. That’s. A baby.”

“Smart, Calum.”

They’re all standing in front of the sofa in Michael and Luke’s too small apartment, a baby staring up at them, pacifier in mouth, eyes big and green and, well, looking generally baby-like. Michael looks ready to throw up. Or have a mental breakdown. Maybe both.

After Luke had to physically stop Michael from running down the stairs (he’s heavier than he looks), he picked up the cradle with the baby lying inside and brought it into their apartment while Michael stood frozen outside, unwilling to put one foot in front of the other. Luke had to drag him inside. After that, he went over to Calum and Ashton’s apartment, knocked three times and told them to come over.

And that’s how they find themselves staring at a baby which was staring back at them. Not the way they wanted their afternoon to go.

“So, uh,” Ashton pipes up from where he was reading the letter Michael had (reluctantly) handed over to him and cleared his voice. “Her name is Riley. Four months old. Name of the mother is Jenna. Mike, do you know a Jenna?”

Michael seems unable to answer, still looking frightened and sick.

“Didn’t you hook up with a girl named Jenna, like, a year ago?” Calum asks. “We were at this club to celebrate the end of finals and the next morning she only left you a note with “Great fuck – Jenna” written on it?”

Ashton’s eyes widens and he points to Calum. “Don’t swear in front of the baby!” he half-whispers/half-yells to which Calum can only roll his eyes. “Come on,” he says. “She’s _four months old._ She doesn’t understand anything we’re saying.”

Ashton looks uncertain but he glances at the kid again. “If you say so,” he mumbles. “But it’s your fault if Michael’s kid suddenly knows five thousand swear words when she starts speaking.”

At that, Michael seems to wake up, stumbling a bit and he eventually sits down at the kitchen table, putting his head in his hands and muttering “oh god, oh god, oh god” all over again.

“Uhm,” Luke starts. “You broke Michael.”

Ashton sighs and rubs his temple, staring at his best friends. He was way too sober for this.

Calum was talking to him, trying to get him to remove his hands from his face and he finally succeeded- after hitting Michael a couple of times on the back of his head, that is.

“Ow,” he exclaims. “What was that for?”

“The first coherent sentence we got out of his mouth,” Calum states, smiling smugly. “I’m the bomb.”

“First of all,” Ashton says, holding a hand up. “Please don’t call yourself ‘the bomb’ again-“

“You love it.”

“No, I don’t.”

“That’s-“

“Guys,” Luke pipes up. “Can you-?” He leaves the question unfinished but he’s glancing at Michael, then back to them, and they know what he means and stop bickering. Michael is staring at the baby, eyes filled with uncertainty, face pale.

“Uhm, Mike, are you-?” Calum starts but Michael interrupts him.

“We need to get her food. And clothes. She needs new stuff.”

He stands up, hands in his pockets and looks at them expectantly. “Who’s coming with me?”

They all stare at him as if he’s gone mad but eventually Ashton shrugs and looks at the others. “I’ll go. Guess you two have to watch after the baby while we’re gone.”

Luke nods, smiling reassuringly at Michael. “We’ll be fine.”

Michael seems to be uncertain to leave a baby ( _his baby,_ he reminds himself) with two guys who a) can’t even be bothered to put on clothes when they have a day off, and b) leave a mess in the bathroom, but he nods then and shoots them a warning look. “Don’t mess anything up.”

* * *

Staring at the different types of baby food, Michael wonders what he did to deserve this. He’s only twenty two, _freaking hell,_ he can barely take care of himself alone let alone _a baby._

“Ash,” he says and his voice wavers a bit. “I need help.”

“Mhm?” comes his friends’ voice from his right and Michael looks to his side only to find Ashton holding a can of baby food in his one hand, a spoon in his other and, Michael has to blink once, mouth full of baby food.

“Ash,” he starts but Ashton gulps down the food and grins.

“Dude, this is _delicious._ This shit’s got carrots, chicken _and_ potatoes in it! Who knew this could taste so good?”

“Wow,” Michael deadpans and shakes his head. “Well, at least you like it.”

Ashton frowns and puts the spoon and can of food he was holding down in the shopping cart before turning to Michael. “What’s up?”

Michael sighs and nibbles at his lower lip, absently scanning the endless rows of baby food. “I don’t know, man,” he starts and looks at his feet, shuffling them. “I-I’ve got a kid now. I’m _twenty-two._ This is just- too much for me, you know?”

“So, what are you saying?” Ashton asks.

Michael shrugs helplessly.

“I- What if I- I give her up for adoption?”

Ashton’s face falls but he quickly tries to hide it, turning to the shopping cart and pretending to be busy. Michael sighs. He should’ve known, he should have _goddamn_ known that this was a bad thing to say, especially to him because _this is Ashton,_ Ashton who’s got two younger siblings, Ashton who adores babies and everything to do with them, Ashton who’s got his future already planned out, with two kids and a nice house in the suburbs.

“Uh,” Ashton coughs and turns to him, uncertainty on his face. “It’s your decision,” he says. “If you’re not ready for it then I’m one hundred percent behind you, you know that, right? Luke and Cal will be, too.”

Michael nods, avoiding his gaze. “Thanks Ash,” he answers quietly and grabs the shopping cart, steering it into the direction of the check-out, with Ashton following behind, no other words spoken between them.

Sometimes Michael really hates being an adult.

* * *

If Calum had to choose between Michael, Ashton or Luke he’d definitely choose Luke any time. Yeah, he knows that’s kind of a dick move to do but he’s known Luke the longest, Luke had been the first one to befriend him after he moved to Sydney, Luke had always stood by his side whenever he got into trouble.

But _now_ he isn’t so sure anymore if Luke’s still his favourite.

“Aww, Cal, you look so adorable together.”

Calum rolls his eyes and avoids Luke’s grin, instead looking down at the little girl he’s holding in his arms, her big green eyes staring up at him and he feels his chest tighten because her eyes look _so much_ like Michael’s and he’s reminded of all the times he’s spent fantasizing about Michael’s eyes and lips and- (Wow. Kinda creepy to think about that while holding a baby.)

“Can I take a picture?”

Calum shoots him an annoyed look before hoisting Riley a little further up his shoulder, her tiny hands grabbing his shirt for support. “No, you _can’t_ take an effing picture, Luke, now shut up.”

Luke smirks. “Did you just say ‘effing’?”

“We’re in the presence of a baby, sorry for being a responsible adult, Mr. Hemmings.”

At that, Luke snorts. “Responsible adult? Talk all you want, Hood, but you’re the one who spilled cereal down his shirt once and continued eating.”

“Says the one who poured coke into his cereal bowl as a replacement for milk. When there was still _a full carton of milk in the fridge._ ”

“At least, I don’t play Fifa for fifteen hours straight.”

“What is this, Shit-On-Calum-Day?”

“You said shit! Put five bucks in the swear jar.”

“Since when do we own a swear jar?”

“You tell me, you’re the responsible adult here.”

“Luke, I swear to god-“

Riley is staring at them the whole time, her eyes lighting up every time they talked back to each other even if she couldn’t understand a word and she happily claps her hands together, her mouth forming into a smile. They both stop talking at the sound she makes and look down to her, Luke grinning slightly and Calum smiling fondly at her, turning her around so that she was sitting on his lap and whispered, “You like me and Uncle Luke, don’t you?”

Luke’s watching them with an amused expression on his face. “Uncle Luke?”

Calum shrugs. “Sounds nice. I’ve always wanted to be an uncle.”

“Can I take a picture now?”

“No.”

(Luke does anyway and later he prints it out, attaching it to their fridge, a frog magnet holding it up. Calum scowls when he sees that picture but makes no attempt to remove it. Luke counts it as a success.)

* * *

“She’s sleeping,” Michael says and steps out onto the balcony, the city lights of Sydney illuminating the night sky. “Was pretty tired after today.”

“Me too,” Calum mumbles and Michael shoots him a look but Calum stares at his shoes, can feel Michael’s eyes on him and he suddenly feels like a kid again when he broke his mother’s blue vase and she took his football away.

He doesn’t see how Michael’s mouth turns into a smile, doesn’t notice the way Michael staring at him, eyes filled with uncertainty and warmth, always warmth.

(Only later, when months has passed, Calum finally figures out what this look means and he regrets ever looking away.)

“What are you going to do?” Luke asks, putting the beer bottle he was holding to his mouth, taking a sip. “With…Riley,” he adds, a little hesitantly.

Michael looks to Ashton for one second but quickly averts his gaze, focusing on his water bottle instead. “Called the adoption agency,” he mumbles and he can feel everyone’s stare on him and his neck is burning and he _knows_ it’s a stupid idea so why he can’t man up and admit to taking a liking to Riley still baffles him.

It’s silent, _too silent,_ until Calum coughs and gets to his feet, scratching his neck. “It’s getting late,” he rushes out and walks over to the balcony door. “See you all tomorrow?”

“Me too,” Ashton says and stands up. “Night.”

Luke nods at them but Michael is staring at his feet, not able to look Calum in the eye because Luke told him how Calum acted with Riley, how he played with her and entertained her and Michael believed him, believed without seeing himself that Riley immediately took a liking to Calum and he wanted to keep it that way, wanted to see Calum happy because he’s had some pretty shit months and he deserved a little happiness and Michael hates himself for only thinking of himself and his problems, hates himself for taking Calum’s newly found happiness away from him.

Ashton quietly closes the balcony door behind them before walking over to Calum who was staring in the direction of Michael’s bedroom.

“She deserves a family,” he mumbles and looks over at Ashton. “How can Michael give her up?”

“Cal,” Ashton starts and he struggles to find the right words. “This is Michael’s decision, he-“

“I know, I know,” Calum cuts him off and runs a hand through his hair. “Still weird, though. For me, at least.”

Ashton bites his lip and thinks of saying something before deciding against it. “Let’s go to sleep.”

* * *

“I think Riley likes Calum,” Luke says absently, loading all the dishes from the day in the dishwasher.

“Hm?” Michael replies, not looking from his laptop.

Luke grins at the memory. “Yeah, she played with his hair and also with his hands and stared at his tattoos? And she pointed at them and made this kind of laughing noise? I think she was fascinated by the words.”

Michael’s only listening with half an ear but suddenly he’s thinking of Calum playing with Riley, making her laugh with pulling dumb faces and playing tea party with her and Michael has to close his eyes for a second because all _this shame_ is overtaking him again and he feels hatred towards himself for thinking he could simply give Riley away, to a random family who might not even treat her right, and the thought of her growing up without her real father, when at least her mother couldn’t be bothered to take care of her, makes him sick.

The next morning he wakes up from Riley’s wailing and while he feeds her, at half past five, heavy-lidded, he makes a decision, something which he’d known all along and what took him one morning of bottle feeding to realize.

At nine in the morning, he calls the adoption agency, says he’d changed his opinion, while sitting on his sofa, Riley on his lap, a small smile gracing Michael’s features.

* * *

Luke stumbles into the kitchen half an hour later, hair messed up, sweatpants loosely on his hips, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He stops walking when he spots Michael at the kitchen table, biting down on his lip which he only does when he’s frustrated, thinking or bored and Luke has to take a few steps forward to see Riley lying on the table, a blanket under her, staring up at Michael with her green eyes.

“Mike?” he asks tentatively and Michael looks up to him, eyes finding his and he stares at him helplessly. “How do you change a diaper?” he asks and Luke has to bite back a grin. “I’m sorry, I don’t know,” he shrugs and Michael sighs, looking back to Riley. “This is horrible.”

Ten minutes later and Riley is sitting up, facing them while Luke grins at her proudly, hands on his hips. Michael sighs for what seems like the tenth time today and Luke has to refrain himself from rolling his eyes.

“Duct tape,” Michael mutters and runs a hand down his face. “Fucking duct tape.”

“Hey!” Luke points to him. “Swear jar.”

“What?”

“Basically, if you swear in front of Riley you have to put money in the swear jar.”

Michael looks around their small apartment before facing Luke again. “I don’t see a swear jar.”

Luke’s hand drops and he shrugs. “Yeah, uhm. Doesn’t matter. It was just something me and Calum came up with. She won’t be here for long anyway.”

At that, Michael starts grinning. “About that..”

* * *

“No, mum, listen to me- I don’t know- _Mum_ -!”

Michael is talking frantically on his phone, his voice quiet but urgent while Luke and Ashton are on the floor in the living room, watching him worriedly.

“Do you know what this is about?” Luke whispers to Ashton and the latter shrugs, turning his back to face him. “Nope. Maybe something with Riley?”

Luke contemplates Ashton’s words for a moment before turning his body in the direction of the couch where Riley is sitting, pacifier in mouth.

“What do you think, Riley? It hasn’t even been three weeks and your daddy’s already going mad about you.”

Riley stares at him, not understanding a word but then she claps her hands together and opens her mouth, resulting in the pacifier to fall onto the floor, tiny laughter coming out of her mouth.

“You like that, don’t you? You like driving your daddy crazy,” Luke says, grin on his face and Ashton watches them, his mouth forming into a smile and, well, if his cheeks flush every time Luke shows him a dimpled grin then he quickly averts his gaze, not commenting on it and if his heart starts beating a little faster when Luke grabs him by the wrist and drags him into the line of his phone camera to take a picture with Riley, then he simply grins and does a thumbs up. (It’s something he has to deal with sooner or later, Ashton knows, but he can’t bring myself to care when he’s so close to Luke, his breath hot on Ashton’s neck, and Ashton thinks, _yeah I could get used to that._ )

The thing is, Ashton likes Luke, as in _like_ -like and yeah, Luke was bi and Ashton counted it as a success but there was still some flicker of hope in him which made it all worse. (And the whole friends with benefits thing they got going on didn’t help either. Ashton absolutely resented it but at the same time was drawn to Luke and it only made him fall harder for the younger boy.)

Falling for your best friend was Rule Number 3 on Ashton’s ‘Absolutely Unacceptable Things to Do’ list which he wrote in High School after being bored in chemistry class. Not soon after, Michael introduced him to Luke and the list was forgotten. (Rules Number 1 + 2 were 'Never Disturb Michael’s Sleep' and 'Never Leave Browser History Open for Everyone to See'. Ashton’s got his priorities sorted.)

Luke decides to send that picture to Calum, ignoring the fact that he’s at work, _and could possibly maybe get into trouble Luke-_

“Come on, Ash, it’s not like Calum cares about his work or anything.”

Ashton guesses he’s right and watches him type the message, doesn’t stop him and remembers how he never stops Luke from doing anything, that he is always the one encouraging him, even participating in his stupid ideas (for instance, the one with the fire ladder but that was, like, _one time_ and they vowed to never talk about it again) so he just watches him and wonders when exactly he found out he was in love with his best friend.

(He knows, _of course he knows, remembers,_ it was a month after they had agreed to the friends with benefits thing, to let off steam, to relax, and Luke had been lying next to Ashton, eyes closed but a faint smile on his face and Ashton had simply watched him, had taken in how his chest rose and fell with each breath, how his blonde hair had been even more messed up with Ashton running his hands through it and he had watched him and thought _oh._ )

Ashton shakes these thoughts from his head before sitting down next to Riley on the couch, looking over at Michael who was watching them from the kitchen.

“Everything okay?” Ashton asks and nods to Michael’s phone in his hand.

The green-haired boy shrugs and walks over to them, picking Riley up, balancing her on his hip. “My mum,” he answers distracted while Riley’s tiny hands play with his necklace. “Said I was too young to take care of a baby.”

“It’s been three weeks,” Luke says and looks up at Michael, confusion on his face. “And you’ve only told your mum about her granddaughter _now_?”

Michael smiles sheepishly and scratches his neck while his other hand still holds Riley. “Didn’t know how to tell her,” he mumbles. “I wanted to wait for the right moment.”

“And was this the right moment?”

“Well, considering the fact that my parents are on holiday in Hawaii currently and won’t be back for another two months, so, yeah.”

“Michael Clifford, you sneaky bastard,” Ashton smirks and not even five seconds later his mouth drops open and he stares at them with wide eyes, mouthing ‘shit’.

“Swear jar.”

Ashton grumbles but gets up anyway, searching his pockets for a five dollar bill until he pulls one out. He glares at them and walks over to the kitchen counter where a glass jar is standing, _SWEAR JAR_ written across it in black sharpie, half full with dollar bills, and Ashton drops the money in it.

“We swear a lot,” he concludes.

“I don’t,” Michael replies.

Luke rolls his eyes. “You used to swear the most but now you’re all mature, we get it.”

“I’m the one with the baby here, I have to be mature!” Michael protests.

“Really?” Ashton grins. “Because, as I recall, you were the one who begged Riley to drink her milk and when she didn’t do it, you almost started crying and then yelled at Luke.”

Michael glares at him. “Well, _excuse me,_ but raising a baby is kind of tiring.”

“Man, Mikey, you need a break,” Luke answers. “When was the last time you were out?”

“Last night.”

Luke groans. “Going to the shop at three a.m. to buy new diapers doesn’t count.”

“ _Clubbing, Mike,_ _partying_ ,” Ashton says and flops down on the couch next to Luke. “Dancing, getting drunk, flirting. You’re hot, Michael, many girls would gladly sleep with you. But- don’t get anyone else pregnant again,” he adds after a second thought.

Michael takes a seat on the floor and puts Riley down on her blanket. “I could use a break, I guess,” he mumbles. “But who is going to look after Riley?”

“ _Hello?!”_ Ashton throws his hands up in exaggeration. “You have _three best friends_ who actually look after Riley when you’re in, I don’t know, _university_? Work?”

“Yeah, but-“ Michael starts and closes his mouth again. He stares up at them. “I appreciate it but you guys need a break, too.”

Luke shrugs. “We’re fine. We’re worried about _you._ You’re the one who hasn’t time for himself since all this-“ He waves his hand around, pointing at Riley –“happened.”

Before Michael can say anything else, Ashton is clapping his hands together, smiling brightly at him. “It’s settled. You and Calum go out tonight and me and Luke look after Riley.”

Michael feels something stirring in his stomach at the thought of going to a club with Calum but chooses to dwell on it later and leans back against the couch, watching Riley being completely fascinated by her toys.

Ashton interrupts the silence. “This is going to be the best fucking-“

“Swear jar.”

* * *

 

Michael didn’t exactly _fall_ for Calum. It was more like he tripped. It happened over a course from a few weeks. Step by step, he found himself fascinated by Calum’s laugh, his voice, his ability to make everything funnier than it actually was and it was like as if he had been walking down the stairs, minding his own business until he missed the last step and tripped a little over his feet before regaining his balance again. And then he had looked at Calum and thought _wow this is the most beautiful person I’ve ever met even with habit of getting new tattoos all the time and even when he snores too loud and stays up too late and I just want to be able to call him mine-_

And then he thought; _Okay. I can deal with that._

And Michael was completely fine with it.

* * *

They go to a bar.

Neither of them are the clubbing type of guy and Michael, well, Michael didn’t protest, would be happy to go anywhere with Calum and now he’s glad he didn’t because they’re sitting in a booth in the corner, drinks in front of them and Calum is smiling at him lazily and it might as well be a date.

(Michael pretends it is; the way Calum’s hand is just centimetres away from his, how he smiles at him, how they talk about nothing and everything.)

“So,” Michael starts. “How’re you?”

Calum raises an eyebrow. “Why?”

“Well, we haven’t really had time to talk to each other, what with me having Riley and all,” Michael shrugs and tries to avoid Calum’s gaze but fails because Calum is smiling at him, faintly, and his cheeks go red.

“I’m good,” he answers, taking a sip from his beer bottle. “You, Mikey?”

Michael goes even redder at the nickname and curses himself because only Calum has that effect on him, only Calum can make him blush with his nicknames, only Calum, _it’s always been Calum._

“I’m tired,” Michael says at last because Calum’s looking at him, waiting for an answer.

Calum grins. “You wouldn’t change it, though, would you?”

Michael shakes his head, a smile forming on his face. “Wouldn’t change it for the world.”

“Riley’s adorable. You’re lucky.”

“Yeah,” Michael says, playing with the ring on his middle finger. “And she’s got you wrapped around her little finger,” he finishes, grinning.

Calum groans. “You’re never gonna let me live this down, huh?”

“Come on, Cal, you’d practically do _anything_ for her, she can stare at your for, like, one second and you’d buy her the world.”

“Well, what can I do when she’s staring at me with these big green eyes?”

There’s a smile tugging on his lips and Michael feels his chest tighten because _he’s missed this,_ he missed simply drinking with Calum and making fun of each other.

“She’s got your eyes,” Calum says after a while and Michael stares at him a little too long whereas Calum is staring at his beer bottle, his fingers tracing the brand name imprinted on the sticker and Michael’s breath catches in his throat and he thinks _this is it._

“Calum-“

“Another round?” Calum interrupts, holding the empty beer bottles up and Michael simply nods and smiles, watches him go over to the bar and sighs.

* * *

“Riley’s sleeping,” Ashton whispers as he closes the bedroom door behind him, walking over to Luke who had been sitting on the couch, TV on mute. “It took me two bedtime stories before she finally fell asleep,” he sighs.

Luke hums in reply. “You’re good with babies.”

Ashton shrugs and sits down next to him, their shoulders brushing and Luke’s breath catches in his throat but he ignores it the best he can. “Took care of Harry and Lauren a lot when they were little.”

“I can imagine you as a father.”

Ashton giggles at that and Luke has to smile at the sound. “Thanks, Lukey. May I ask, what kind of father am I?”

“The kind of father who adores his kids too much,” Luke replies, grin on his face. “You’d play soccer with them and tea party and let your daughter paint your nails and you’d be the kind of father who every teacher loves and you’d be in the parents’ council and all the other mums would adore you because you’d be _so_ put together, you’d always have a Plan B if something goes wrong and you’d only want the best for your kids.”

It’s silent for a few minutes and Luke can feel his skin darken and curses himself, _was that too much,_ but when he looks up Ashton is smiling at him, _something-_ a glint, a sparkle in his eyes, an unreadable expression which Luke can’t read.

“That sounds nice,” Ashton says, voice quiet.

* * *

“Okay, uhm,” Calum says, bringing the beer bottle up to his lips, brows furrowed. “Season 3, Episode 1. When Lori comes up to talk to him.”

Michael bites down on his lip in concentration and Calum grins. He doesn’t even remember what game they were playing, all he remembers vaguely is that Michael told him he knew every Rick Grimes quote and this resulted in Calum asking him about his favourite quotes from each episode. (Or something like this. Calum could feel his head spinning and the alcohol flowing through his veins and then there was Michael who looked _absolutely stunning_ in the dim light of the bar, his cheeks flushed and eyes dark.)

“Got it,” Michael exclaims and leans forward. “I’m doing stuff, Lori. Things,” he says in an absolute _horrendous_ accent and Calum bursts out laughing, gripping the beer bottle tighter.

Jesus,” he gasps out and tries to calm his breathing. “That was horrible.”

“I know,” Michael shrugs but he’s grinning at Calum and Calum is staring back, smile on his face and this feels so familiar and Michael’s heart aches.

“We should leave soon,” Calum says, breaking Michael out of his thoughts and he looks up to find the bar half deserted and glances at the clock hanging on the wall, reading the time.

“Shit,” he breathes out. “Half past one. Ashton is going to kill me.”

“Come on,” Calum replies and gets to his feet, Michael following. They leave the bar, the warm air of the Sydney night surrounding them and start walking back to their apartment building.

Michael feels _good,_ he’s still a bit intoxicated but there’s Calum next to him, their arms brushing from time to time and his mouth tastes of beer and chips and the stars are shining and _Michael feels good._

“Hey Mike?” Calum asks, breaking the silence around them.

“Hm?”

Calum struggles with his words for a moment before speaking up again and Michael immediately knows it isn’t what he originally wanted to say but lets it go.

“Tonight was nice.”

Michael smiles and bumps their shoulders together. “Yeah. It was.”

* * *

Michael finds Luke fifteen minutes later, curled up in Michael’s bed, clutching the baby phone to his chest with Riley sleeping soundly in her crib.

He grins and quietly takes a photo, saving it for possible blackmail material (because Luke looks _adorable_ sleeping, no matter how many times he pouted and said he was manly) and goes over to the bed to wake him.

“Luke,” he whispers and carefully glances at Riley before shaking Luke’s shoulder. “Wake up.”

Luke stirs in his sleep and his eyes flutter open and there’s a look of confusion in his eyes before he seems to realize where he is and sits up, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

“Hi,” Michael says and takes a seat next to him. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” Luke replies and looks at Michael. “Just tired.”

Michael nods over to Riley, still sleeping. “Was she any trouble?”

“Nah,” Luke replies in a hushed voice and gets out of the bed, stretching. “Ashton read her two bedtime stories before she fell asleep.”

Michael smiles a little.

“I’m going to bed,” Luke mumbles and gets ready to leave. At the door, he turns around. “How was your night with Calum?”

Michael shrugs but a smile is playing on his face. “Good. Needed a night off.”

Luke smirks. “Only _good_?”

Michael can feel his cheeks heating up and he groans. “Good night, Luke.”

* * *

Jack stares at Riley who’s staring back at him, unmoving. Narrowing his eyes, he takes a step closer.

“She’s unnerving me,” he says at last.

“It’s a baby,” Alex replies from where he’s sitting on the couch, switching through the TV channels. “What’d she do?”

“Her stare is creepy.”

Alex rolls his eyes. “Again – she’s a baby. She probably finds your hair cool or something,” he scoffs.

Jack considers this for a moment and then sits down opposite Riley who is still staring at him through the bars of her playpen.

“Is Alex right?” he asks her, putting a hand on his chin in mock thought. “Do you like my hair, Riley?”

“Oh, Jesus Christ,” Alex mutters.

* * *

Making his way over from behind the bar, Michael plops down beside Luke at their regular table. “Give me that,” he sighs, grabbing the glass of see-through liquid from Ashton’s hands and drowning it. “Scotch on the Rocks, God, how I missed that.”

Calum and Luke raise their eyebrows while Ashton stares at his now empty glass. “He drank my scotch,” he says lamely.

Luke pats his arm. “I’ll get you a new one.”

“What’s wrong, Mike?” Calum asks, resting his elbows on the table.

“I’m so fucking tired,” he mutters, running a hand through his hair. “I’ve been working non-stop since this morning because my co-worker called in sick and I’ve been up all night writing on my stupid essay for my stupid Psych class and I’m just so goddamn tired.”

“Can we swear again?” Ashton pipes up. “’Cause I’m so used to not swearing.”

“We can ‘cause Riley’s not here at the moment,” Michael answers.

“Speaking of,” Luke says, worry crossing his features. “Where is she?”

“Upstairs,” Michael yawns. “Alex and Jack are watching her.”

Calum shares a look with Luke and Ashton before turning back to Michael who is now lazily munching on the peanuts from the bowl on the table. “Do you think it’s a good idea to let Alex and Jack watch her?”

“What’s wrong with that? I trust them,” he answers. “Okay, I trust Alex,” he adds after a second thought. “He’s my cousin, I’ve known him my entire life. Even if he doesn’t seem like it, he _is_ responsible, alright? And he’s watching Jack so I’m not worried.”

Calum raises one eyebrow. “Okay.”

“Michael, get me a new drink,” Ashton says suddenly, shoving his empty glass onto Michael’s side of the table. “I need one.”

Michael snorts. “Get yourself one. Just say you know me and you’ll get one for free.”

“Michael, I had a fucking stressful day at work, if you don’t-“ he cuts himself off and stares off into the distance before grinning slightly. “Holy shit, I missed swearing.”

Michael grins while Luke chuckles, shaking his head. “Take advantage of it as long as we’re alone.”

Ashton smirks at them. “Oh, I will,” he says, standing up. “And I am going to get us now a round of drinks, on me.”

* * *

Michael opens the door to find Alex stooped over Jack, being unnatural close to his face.

“What are you doing there?” he asks.

“Hey, lil cousin,” Alex calls without looking up. “He fell asleep, so naturally-“ he straightens back up and now Michael notices the black sharpie in his hand. “-I had to do this,” he finishes, grinning.

Michael steps closer until he’s beside Alex, then looks down at Jack who is sleeping on the couch with Riley on his lap and lets out a laugh when he’s seen what Alex has done.

“Isn’t it beautiful?” Alex asks proudly.

“Al, you’ve drawn a penis on his cheek.”

“An _anatomically_ _correct_ penis, thank you very much.”

Michael shakes his head, smirking, and looks down at Riley who is looking up at them curiously. “Hey sweetheart,” he coos, bending down to pick her up. She immediately grabs onto his shirt collar and her mouth forms into a laugh when she looks at him. “Daddy missed you,” he says, placing a hand on her small back to support her. “Did you have a good time with Alex and Jack?”

She moves her head as if she wants to nod and tiny laughter bubble out of her mouth. Alex is watching them, a slight smile on his face. “Man, I still can’t believe you’re a dad,” he shakes his head, making his way to the kitchen. “This is the same boy who was absolutely trashed last year on my birthday and now he’s a father, Christ.”

Michael grins. “Crazy, huh?”

“Totally. Oh, you got a hundred bucks added to your swear jar,” Alex calls, digging through the fridge. Michael’s eyes widen and a quick glance to said jar confirms this – it definitely looks fuller since the last time he saw it.

“What did you do? My poor daughter’s ears.”

“Relax,” Alex grins. “She was watching Phineas & Ferb. I think she likes the song, she was clapping along all the time. Anyway, Jack isn’t used to not swearing.”

“Oh yeah, she _adores_ it,” Michael replies, smiling fondly at Riley. “Don’t you, honey?”

“Gross,” Alex says from where he’s leaning against the kitchen counter, munching on a toast.

Michael rolls his eyes. “Thanks for looking after her. Go wake your boyfriend.”

Jack’s voice pipes up behind them. “I’ve been awake for five minutes.”

Michael nearly jumps when he hears his voice, then turns around. “Jesus,” he mutters, tightening his grip on Riley. “You’re a creep.”

Jack shrugs, smirking. “I do my best.”

“Come on, loser,” Alex says and steps over to him. “Let’s leave daddy and his sweetheart alone.”

Jack gets up, yawning and Michael has to bite down a laugh when he spots the penis on his cheek. “That sentence can be taken two ways,” Jack says, grabbing his phone from the table.

They’re making their way to the door when Michael gets it. “You’re gross!” he calls after them.

Alex laughs and goes to open the door when it flies open to reveal Calum standing on the threshold. “Oh, hi there,” he grins. “Hi Alex, nice penis on your cheek, Jack,” he continues while brushing past them.

“Wait what?” Jack shouts but then Alex is grabbing him by the wrist, closing the door behind them.

Michael shakes his head at their antics and turns to Calum who’s staring at the door. “That penis looked so real,” he wonders out loud.

Michael shrugs. “Alex is a professional.”

Calum laughs then turns to face him, his grin fading into a genuine smile when he spots Riley. “Hey Riles,” he says. She blinks at him, then turns and starts playing with Michael’s necklace, tugging slightly at it. Calum’s smile turns into a pout.

“Don’t worry about it,” Michael says, laughing. “She gets distracted easily.”

“I can see it,” Calum grins. Riley is now tugging at Michael’s hair, seemingly being fascinated by it, her eyes wide. “She likes the colour.”

Michael pulls a face at the mention of his green hair. “I’ve been meaning to dye it,” he answers.

“What? Why?”

Michael shrugs and sets Riley down in her playpen where she immediately starts playing with one of her toys. “I’m a dad now, I can’t have green hair, can I? I’ve been thinking of dyeing it back to blonde.”

Calum plops down at the couch and Michael follows suit. “But Riley loves your hair,” Calum says, frowning. “Your _dyed_ hair,” he adds. “And I bet that when she grows older she’s going to love it even more, maybe even pick out colours for you.”

Michael smiles slightly. “You don’t think it’s..immature that I dye my hair when I have a kid now?”

Calum shrugs. “Nope. It makes you a cool parent.”

“As opposed to?”

“Uncool parents.”

Michael laughs, eyes crinkling, and Calum smiles at him. “Crazy coloured hair is _your thing,_ Mike. Don’t let your personality die just because you have a child now. And, as I said, Riley loves it so why do you want to change that?”

Michael runs a hand through his hair, biting his lip but then he smiles. “Thanks Cal,” he says softly.

Calum smiles. “It’s nothing,” he answers. “You’re my best friend, I’m supposed to save you from making bad decisions,” he jokes.

Michael feels his chest tightening at the words ‘best friend’ and he feels like he can’t breathe because at the end of the day that’s all he is to Calum, his best friend, and it hurts, _it hurts too much,_ but he forces a smile onto his face and puts these thoughts away in a box called ‘Things you should immediately forget and delete from your mind’.

If only it were that easy.

* * *

“Red or violet?”

Calum takes a step closer, looking at the two different packs of hair dye Michael is holding. He frowns, hoisting Riley a little farther up his hip then turns to look at her. “What do you think, Riles? What colour should your dad dye his hair?”

Michael grins. “Great idea, let a five month old baby decide.”

“Hey, she’s got great taste.”

“Oh, does she?”

“She picked out the shirt I’m wearing,” Calum smirks. “And it goes great with my jeans.”

Michael snorts. “And how exactly did she do that?”

“I laid out two shirts on the bed and she sat on one.”

Michael looks down at Riley and raises an eyebrow. “Nice choice, sweetie.”

“Called it.”

“Stop looking so smug about that,” Michael rolls his eyes but grins nonetheless.

Calum simply shrugs and continues smirking. “I say, let her the colour decide.”

“Okay, so,” Michael takes a step back and holds the two packs in front of Riley up, her eyes following his movements. “Which colour, honey?”

They both watch her as her eyes move between the two colours until she makes grabby hands towards the violet and Calum grins while Michael bends down to her, giving her a kiss on the cheek. “Not bad, Riles,” he grins and straightens back up. “Lilac hair it is.”

An old lady who has been watching them smiles at them fondly. “That’s an adorable girl you have there,” she says and they both turn around, surprise on their faces slowly turning into smiles.

“Thank you, Ma’am,” Michael says, shuffling his feet.

“You seem to love her very much. She’s lucky she’s got two wonderful dads who care for her,” she says, winking, and disappears down the aisle before any of them can grasp what she said.

Calum blinks. “What just happened,” he states flatly.

“I guess she thought we were together,” Michael answers, rubbing at the nape of his neck. “She saw us with Riley and simply..assumed.”

Calum is quiet and Michael doesn’t dare to look up at him. His cheeks are already burning and the silence which has settled over them is uncomfortable and awkward which makes it harder for Michael to look up. He doesn’t _want_ to look up, doesn’t want to see the clear rejection on Calum’s face, he can already see the conversation playing out in his head, _“I’m sorry Mikey, you’re my best friend-“_

He simply says, “Let’s go.”

* * *

It’s a Friday. Friday means movie night, Friday means pizza and beer, Friday means four best friends just being _them._

It’s not a tradition, per se, just something that happened once and then every Friday, it’s regular for them, it’s an unspoken rule that no one makes plans for Friday because Friday meant another week of work over and they could unwind and just relax with a cool beer and pizza or popcorn.

(And, well, since Riley came into the picture, things were a little different. They still held their weekly movie nights but they had to cut the beer and sometimes they would have to turn the volume on low when Michael had put her to sleep and they weren’t allowed to talk loudly otherwise Michael would kick them out – it had happened a few times.)

Other than that, nothing had changed.

They’re in Calum and Ashton’s apartment, Ashton in the small kitchen cleaning the dishes which have piled themselves over the week and Luke on the couch, Riley on his lap who’s fiddling with the bracelets around his wrist.

Ashton makes the mistake of glancing at them and then he just _stops_ and his heart aches and he wishes he could stash these feelings away, never deal with them ever again. His mind is reeling, _IloveyouIloveyouIloveyou_ playing on loop in his head, a melody he wishes he could say out loud.

He’s staring at Luke and the younger boy is talking to Riley, his lips are moving but Ashton doesn’t hear him, the mixtape on loop in his mind.

“We need to talk,” he rushes out and Luke looks up to him.

“About?”

Ashton takes a deep breath. “About, about this _thing_ we’ve got going on.”

Luke’s face falls and he averts his gaze, tightening his grip on Riley’s back.

“Okay,” he breathes out.

“It needs to stop.” Ashton’s voice sounds weak in his ears and he wishes he could stop talking but he needs to get it out and it’s now or never. “Luke, I- we’ve gotta stop sleeping with each other because-“

“Because what?” Luke’s voice is hard and emotionless and Ashton inwardly cringes.

“Because- because I love you, Luke,” he whispers. “I’m in love with you and I can’t do this anymore.”

It’s silent, Ashton’s words hanging in the air and Luke still hasn’t said anything. At least, the endless loop of _Iloveyou’s_ in Ashton’s head has stopped.

Riley is staring at Luke, tugging at his sleeve as if _she understood_ what had just happened and that Luke needs to say something and Ashton feels hollow because he can actually see _them_ with an own child, as a family.

Luke abruptly gets up, balancing Riley on his left hip and she grabs onto his shirt for reassurance. “I need to go,” he says, already on his way to the door. “Ashton, I-“

“No,” Ashton croaks out and he runs a hand over his face, trying to blink away the tears. “It’s fine. Leave.”

Luke doesn’t say anything else, simply opens the door and lets it fall shut behind him.

Ashton takes a deep breath and tries to sort his thoughts when his phone vibrates in his pocket.

**From: Calum**

_which movie r we watching tonight??_

**To: Calum**

_no movie night today. i’ll explain later_

He sends the text, leaves his phone on the kitchen counter and goes to bed.

* * *

“Ashton hates me.”

“What?”

Michael closes the door behind him and stares at Luke who is sitting on the floor with his back leaning against the couch, Riley in her playpen.

“Ashton hates me,” Luke repeats, while Michael drops his bag on the floor and goes over to the playpen, leaning down to kiss Riley on the cheek. “He hates me and I am absolutely stupid.”

“I agree with the stupid part,” Michael says, sitting down on the couch and Luke scoffs. “But why does Ashton hate you?”

Luke mumbles something intelligible to which Michael hits him on the head.

“Hemmings, you gotta be a little more understandable.”

Luke takes a deep breath and speaks up, cheeks flushed. “He told me earlier that he was in love with me.”

Michael stares at him for a moment, unfazed, before speaking. “Cool. Calum owns me ten bucks.”

“What?!”

“Calum and I made a bet that Ashton would be the first to declare his _undying_ ,” Michael waves around with his hand for emphasis. “-love for you. Calum said you’d be the first but I’ve known Ashton the longest.”

Luke is staring at him, eyes wide, shaking his head then, muttering something about “my best friends are fucking idiots.”

“Swear jar,” Michael comments absently. “Why do you think Ashton hates you anyway? I mean, he told you he loved you? Luke, I don’t see the logic here.”

“Because I sort of, uhm, stormed out when he told me.”

“Luke, you’re the idiot here.”

“It was unexpected, alright?” Luke protests, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

“Yeah, but-“ Michael starts and stares at him. “ _Why_ _didn’t you say it back?”_

“What do you mean-“

“Lucas Robert Hemmings,” Michael groans and Luke cringes because if one of them uses the full-name card then they’re pretty fucked.

“You and Ashton. Meant to be. Understood?”

Luke leans his head back and stares at him dumbly. “What?”

Michael sighs. “Okay. I’m going to explain this to you as though I’m explaining it to Riley. Ashton? Loves you. And you? You love Ashton. This friends with benefits thing? Not working out. A relationship? The perfect solution.”

Luke is too confused to even feel insulted because _what the fuck was Michael talking about_ and he was inwardly freaking out.

“How do you even know that we sleep together?”

“Calum told me.”

“And…how does Calum know that?”

“He heard you one time.”

“Oh god,” Luke mutters, burying his face in his hands. “This is horrible.”

“All I’m saying is,” Michael starts. “You need to sort this out.”

“You’re implying it’s my fault?”

Michael closes his eyes for a second and pinches the bridge of his nose. “You were the one who stormed out after Ashton said he loved you.”

“I don’t know if I love him, okay?!”

Michael is staring at him and Luke can feel his face growing hot and he crosses his arms over his chest, trying to ignore Michael’s gaze. Apparently his mouth does not get the hint because he’s talking again and he wishes he could stop.

“I- I want to love him.”

“What’s going on, Lukey?” Michael asks softly and when Luke looks up again Michael’s expression is hard to read but his eyes are understanding and Luke loves this about him, loves that Michael was the one who always told the truth, who brought them back onto the right path, not taking the bullshit lies they tried to feed him when something was clearly wrong.

Luke shrugs helplessly and he tugs at the hem of his shirt. “I’ve never been in love with anyone,” he mumbles. “How do you know you’re in love?”

“I guess- it just happens?”

“Did that happen with you and Calum? Just like that?”

“With me and Calum? What are you-?”

“I see the way you look at him, Mike,” Luke says quietly and Michael stops stammering and averts his gaze. “You look at him like he’s your whole world.”

Michael laughs humourless and shakes his head. “Maybe he is. God, I don’t know, Luke. Love is complicated.”

Luke grins. “Truer words have never been spoken.”

They don’t have a movie night that Friday.

* * *

“Isn’t she supposed to start talking soon?”

Riley is sitting on the couch and staring up at them, eyes wide, sucking on her pink pacifier. Michael and Luke are standing in front of her, arms crossed, while Calum is sitting at the kitchen counter, scrolling through his phone, when he speaks up again.

“On this site it says that babies start talking when they’re four months old.”

“And Riley is almost six months old,” Luke mutters while Michael gets down on his knees and gently takes the pacifier out of Riley’s mouth.

“Come on, Riles,” he says. “Say ‘Daddy’. You can do it.”

“Daddy is too hard for her,” Luke muses. “What about ‘Papa’?”

“Say ‘Papa’,” Michael coos. “I know you can do it. Say ‘Papa’-“

The door suddenly opens, interrupting Michael, and they all look up to see Ashton in the doorway. “Why-“ he starts, stepping in and letting the door fall shut behind him. “Why did I get a text from Calum saying ‘Code Red’ ten times over and over?”

Calum grins sheepishly. “You’re the one who knows the most about babies.”

Ashton sighs. “What’s wrong?”

“She isn’t talking,” Michael answers. “Is everything okay with her?”

Ashton steps over, sitting down beside Riley and she immediately clambers onto his lap. “She’s fine,” he says while Riley sticks one finger into a hole of Ashton’s ripped up shirt, gigging happily. Michael smiles slightly and takes a seat beside him. “Babies don’t start talking until their sixth month.”

“But this website-“

Ashton waves Calum off. “They sometimes start repeating words before that. Doesn’t mean that they have to, though. They listen and pick up words.”

“So, nothing’s wrong with her for not talking yet?”

Ashton shakes his head. “No, Mikey. She’s alright.”

Michael sighs in relief and leans his head back. “Thank God,” he mutters.

“She does seem to recognize you,” Ashton says, amusement in his eyes and Michael looks up to find Riley staring at him, making grabby hands towards him. He grins and grabs her, supporting her upper body while she stands on his lap with wobbly legs. She opens her mouth and Michael expects laughter but then-

“Da-da!”

His eyes widen and he sits up straight and he can vaguely hear Calum saying “Holy-“ before he cuts himself off. Out of the corner of his eyes he sees Luke quickly sitting down on the couch, leaning forward while Calum and Ashton stare at her. Riley, unaware of what’s happening, points to Michael and repeats her words. “Da-da!”

A soft smile is gracing Michael’s features and he leans forward, pressing a kiss to her forehead. He can hear the snapper of a camera but doesn’t question it, too focused on his daughter who is repeating this one word, his eyes filled with pride.

Luke breaks the silence.

“Can we call you dada now?”

* * *

“Hey,” Ashton sighs and plops down on the couch, loosening his tie. “I’m dead tired.”

Calum pulls a face from where he’s sitting on the floor, working on something lying on the living room table. “Work that bad?”

“My boss can suck my dick, for all I care,” Ashton mutters and runs a hand through his hair. “I’m lucky that I’m off work until New Year.”

“You decided to work in a law firm.”

“Yeah and I absolutely regret it now,” he groans. “What’re you doing there, by the way?”

“My Christmas present for Michael,” Calum answers distracted, biting his lip in concentration.

“Christmas is tomorrow,” Ashton deadpans and Calum flips him off.

“I know but I haven’t had time to do it.”

“Can I see what it is?”

“Nope,” Calum quickly gets up, pressing the present to his chest.

Ashton smirks. “Is it a book full of your nudes?”

“Piss off, Ash,” Calum replies, walking over to the kitchen and stashing the present away in a plastic bag before turning the coffee machine on. “Anyway, what are you getting Luke?”

Ashton rolls his eyes. “You know?”

“Michael told me. Luke told him.”

“Great, now everyone knows what an ass I made out of myself. Shall we call my mum? Your mum? I bet they don’t know it yet.”

Calum pulls out two cups and places them on the counter, rolling his eyes. “Talk to him.”

Ashton groans and lets his head fall back, closing his eyes. “Great advice, Cal, didn’t think of that one before.”

“Honestly, Ashton, if you don’t let me talk I will throw this coffee cup at your head and lock your miserable ass in your room over the holidays.”

Ashton waves him off, not bothering to open his eyes. Calum sighs.

“You need to talk to him. You can’t hope that one day things will be okay again without talking about it.”

“I can try, though.”

“What I’m saying is,” Calum loudly replies. “If you don’t talk to him soon things are going to get worse. And things are already awkward at our movie nights because of you two.”

An idea forms in Ashton’s head. “Okay. I’ll talk to him.”

Calum wants to say something but then Ashton is sitting upright, staring at him, a smirk curling around his lips. “If you talk to Michael.”

Calum can feel his cheeks darken. “Why should I talk to Michael?” he asks dumbly.

“Oh, come off it, Cal,” Ashton sighs. “Everyone knows you two want to fuck each other’s brains out. So here’s the deal: tomorrow I’ll talk to Luke while you talk to Michael. Alright?”

Calum glares at him but nods anyway. “Alright.”

“Good,” Ashton says and closes his eyes again. “It’s about damn time someone does something about us being lovesick idiots.”

* * *

Ashton stands in front of the kitchen counter where Riley is sitting, staring up at him. She’s dressed in all red and green and a pair of plastic antlers sits on her head and Ashton smiles proudly, hands on his hips.

“Ash!” She claps her hands together and giggles, although it more comes out as an ‘Ah-s’ but Ashton doesn’t care. “Yes, sweetie, that’s my name but we wanted to show you to your daddy, didn’t we?”

At the mention of Michael her eyes go wide and she giggles again. “Dada!”

“Dada is here,” Michael calls and steps out of his bedroom, hair still wet from his shower. He stops when he sees Riley and rolls his eyes. “Oh God, Ashton, what did you do to her?” Luke snorts from his place on the couch, watching them.

“What?” Ashton protests. “She looks cute!”

Michael shakes his head but smiles and he takes his phone out of his pocket, quickly snapping a picture. “See?” Ashton says, smirking smugly, and Michael chuckles.

“Yes, Ash, she is cute, you were right,” he says while picking her up and putting her in her playpen where she immediately grabs one of her toys.

The door flies open to reveal Calum, hands behind his back, cheeks flushed. “Sorry,” he says and shuts the door. “Had to do something. It’s too hot outside, I’m sweating.”

“We see, you’re dropping onto the floor,” Ashton comments dryly.

“Very funny, Ash,” Calum deadpans. “Didn’t you want to do something?” he asks, glancing at Luke and back to Ashton again. The older boy glares at him but then turns to Luke.

“Hey, uh, Luke? Can we talk? Alone?”

Luke looks between Calum and Ashton for a second before nodding slowly, getting up. “Sure. Balcony?” he asks and Ashton nods, already crossing through the kitchen and opening the balcony door. Luke slips out behind him and closes the door.

“What was that about?” Michael asks, frowning. “That was weird.”

Calum grins, scratching the back of his neck. “Yeah,” he agrees, sitting down on the couch and only now Michael sees what Calum has been holding the whole time – a book of some sorts, but it looks more like a photo album and he raises his eyebrows, taking a seat beside him. “What’s that?”

“My present for you. And I know, we open the presents always after lunch but I wanted to give you this one in privacy,” he rushes out, biting his lip nervously, trying to calm his nerves.

“I didn’t have time to wrap it but I hope you like this.”

Michael picks the book up, smiling at him. “I like everything you give me, Cal,” he teases and leans back, opening the book on its first page. It’s white but written in pink sharpie is ‘RILEY CLIFFORD’ and in black sharpie, underneath the title, ‘feat. Daddy Michael and Uncles Luke, Ashton and Calum.’

Michael snorts at that but turns to the next page. It’s empty save for the middle where a picture of Riley is applied with glue – she’s sucking on her pacifier while sitting on her blanket on the floor, the TV on, eyes glued to the screen. Michael remembers the day: it had been two weeks after he’d found her on his doorstep and she hadn’t stopped crying and they all were at loss on what to do until Luke turned the TV on in a last attempt to calm her down and it had surprisingly worked. Michael didn’t know that Calum had taken a picture.

The next picture is one of him and Riley. Michael is sleeping on the couch with Riley on his chest, also sleeping. And it goes on: pictures of Luke and Riley, Ashton and Riley, sometimes all of them together but one thing is never missing: Riley. She’s in every picture, either sleeping or eating or laughing and Michael smiles slightly. He flips another page and it’s a picture of Luke, Ashton and Riley – Luke sticking his tongue out and Ashton doing a thumbs-up, with Riley in the middle, mouth wide as if she’d been laughing.

Sometimes the pictures have captions, for instance, ‘First time during lunch where she didn’t throw the food!!’ or ‘She looooves Phineas & Ferb’.

He turns another page and it’s a picture of him and Riley – she’s standing on his legs while he’s supporting her upper body, while giving her a kiss on the forehead. And the caption says, ‘First word – Dada’.

“It’s a scrapbook,” Calum says quietly. “I thought you would find it nice to have memories of her first few months with us.”

Michael runs a hand over his face, blinking away the burning tears, and turns to Calum. “This is perfect,” he whispers. “Thank you so much.”

Calum opens his mouth, his voice wavering. “I-I love you, Michael,” he manages to say and Michael stares at him for five, ten seconds. “I’m sorry, I-“

But then lips are on his own and his eyes widen for a second before he closes them and then he’s kissing Michael and pulling him closer and it’s everything he ever wanted and more.

“I love you,” Michael says between kisses. “God, I was so _stupid,_ ” he says and Calum doesn’t know what he means but it doesn’t matter anyway.

All that matters is happening right now.

* * *

“I feel like I should explain,” Luke says before Ashton can open his mouth.

“Explain what?”

Luke cringes at Ashton’s hard tone and takes a deep breath.

“I was a dick to you-“

“Luke-“

“No, Ashton, listen to me. I-I love you. I needed time to figure that out but, _fuck,_ I am so in love with you, it’s ridiculous. And that friends with benefits thing? It was a mistake, I know that now, but at that time it seemed like a good idea because we were both stressed, we needed to let off steam and it all happened so fast after that- I understand if you hate me. After you told me you loved me - I didn’t know what to do,” his voice breaks and he grabs onto the railing before speaking again. “I’m sorry for freaking out and leaving. I was scared of love. Still am, Jesus,” he says, laughing humourless. “But I think with you- I could do it,” he finishes with a whisper.

Silence settles over them and Luke’s knuckles are turning white from where he’s gripping the railing and he doesn’t dare look up, instead watching the street underneath them.

“You hurt me,” Ashton says at last. “Like, I was really fucking hurt after you stormed out. I mean, I-I cancelled movie night and none of us has _ever_ cancelled movie night, that’s how bad it was!” He takes a deep breath and runs a hand through his curls, messing them up even more. “I don’t know if I can do this, Luke. A relationship. I’m sorry but-“

“It’s okay,” Luke cuts him off. “I just wanted you to know that.”

Ashton nods, biting his lip. “I love you, Lukey.”

“I love you too, Ash,” Luke answers and reaches over, taking his hand. He squeezes once. “But we’re getting there.”

Ashton nods, smiling softly. “We’re getting there.”


End file.
